Mayo TD talks about whirlwind start to her political career
by Nathan Keane
Keira Keogh has had a whirlwind start to her political career.
First elected to public office in the 2024 general election, the Westport-based Fine Gael politician has been kept extremely busy as a TD ever since.
In our conversation via video call, the first thing I asked her was how she has adjusted to life as a TD.
“I wouldn’t be a huge overthinker,” Keira began.
“I just get on with the work. I was used to working seven days a week because I had my own business, and then I was in a voluntary role in an international NGO. I was used to having crazy hours, so that didn’t really take me by surprise.
“At the same time, there was a huge amount of learning. I hadn’t come up through the local council role. So learning how things worked on the ground at a local level, as well as how things worked in Leinster House, took a bit of getting used to. Add in hiring staff and getting a new constituency office, which also took a bit of time.
“As the year went on, we were finding better and quicker ways of doing things, and in some cases finding out that following the process doesn’t always yield results. I’m still learning every day, but I don’t overthink how I have adjusted, I just get up and do the work.”
I also asked Keira how she manages to deal with all of the issues that arise in the role of TD.
“On a human level, I didn’t find it difficult. I think with my background in the hospitality and disability sectors, I was used to engaging with a variety of people with a variety of backgrounds and issues.
"I think the most challenging part was that today you might be dealing with pensions, tomorrow it might be agriculture. The topics themselves can be quite technical. For example, you have social housing versus affordable housing versus HAP versus RAS. Or the process for an SNA appeal or a school extension.”
Getting support for vulnerable areas of society has been one of Keira Keogh’s priorities so far. She spoke about what progress she was making in relation to this.
“In this job you have to be constantly hungry, as things can be slow moving. It was difficult for me to leave the career I was in.
"I was 20 years working with neurodiverse people and their families. But when making the jump into politics, you are going from helping families in the hundreds to the multiple thousands. Even though it was difficult to walk away, that was the incentive, seeking to help more and more people.
“I am very vocal on the issue of online safety. With how slow it is to move legislation, it can be frustrating. But when something comes to fruition, it is really rewarding.
"Am I satisfied with how it is going? In some things, yes. In others, it can be frustrating, but I am learning how to get things done a bit quicker. In some cases, the process is slow, and you have to just keep banging away.
“With some of the issues I have been working on, such as the Primary Medical Certificate, or the Newport sewage plant, the processes can be slow, but this many months in I have started to see how things I have worked on have come to fruition.”
Keira then highlighted some of the key issues that those affected by disabilities face.
“Access to services is the main thing. Families are crying out to see speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists.
"We also have nearly 50 families waiting for respite. Even though progress is being made, we are a long way from getting on top of the demand.
"Independent living is also another big issue, especially further down the line. I held a recent meeting in Castlebar which was attended by members of the HSE, Mayo County Council, and the Minister for Disability, Emer Higgins, which discussed this.”
The next topic of conversation was the biggest challenges facing Westport, and west Mayo in general.
“The biggest challenge in Westport is housing.
“We are an extremely popular town,” she added, “and there is huge demand for rented accommodation.
"There were two or three rental properties online last week and they were starting at €1,200, and working up to €1,800. So for someone who is in the squeezed middle-lower income, it is really difficult to get on to the rental market. If people who are working here can’t live here, that will then have knock-on effects on our schools and so on.
“Recently there was €1 million announced from the Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund for the Westport area, to unlock housing.
"We are looking to get 200 houses built on council land, and open it up for development. You are also looking at the 18 age-friendly apartments that will open up where the convent is, which is going to be a huge boost when it opens.”
The discussion turned to the Newport sewage treatment plant.
“It is progressing on time at the moment, which is good comfort to the people who have been waiting for it for decades.
"When I was elected there was a lot of frustration with not knowing where progress was at. We got a really good in-depth presentation from Uisce Éireann this time last year, and they told us that they were waiting on a MUL and MAC licence.
"They have been progressing, and they have recently got the MUL licence. The next phase involves the picking of the site selection and going into consultation with the locals, followed by an application for the MAC licence. It’s a slow process, but it is moving along.
"The locals are much happier now, because we have been advocating so hard with MARA and Uisce Éireann for regular communication. It is on track now for 2030.”
I then enquired about Keira’s campaign to tackle the issue of boy racers at Derrinumera, on the Newport-Castlebar road (R311).
“This is a long running issue. I have engaged with the county council and engaged with the gardaí. I then went a bit further and commissioned the Library and Research Centre in the Oireachtas to see what is being done in other countries.
"A report came back which said that there is nothing in the whole world that is really, really successful at tackling this. There are mixed results from a number of things. I have made some recommendations in relation to traffic camera measures.
“At the moment, they can have spotters to notify the other drivers that the gardaí are arriving, so they can disperse. Cameras would be great, in particular the ones that can also detect sound. The most successful strategy worldwide is an immediate car seizure for thirty days.”
Finally, I questioned Keira on her top three priorities for Mayo over the coming years.
“My priorities will affect people in the west Mayo area, but they are national priorities. My top three priorities are childcare, online safety and housing. They are the three biggest issues.
“I am the chair of the Children and Equality Committee, and we do have a crisis within childcare at the moment. In Mayo, we only have one registered childminder.
"So even if we bring down the price, if people in Mayo can’t access that childcare scheme, they won’t avail of that. There is a scheme being proposed to help with this, and I am pushing for Mayo to be selected in 2027.”